The monster archetype is seen in almost every horror movie to date. Ranging from little green ghouls and goblins to flesh eating zombies, the fiction stories and scripts soon become a horror in the back of the audiences’ mind.
The monster dates back to when stories were only told by word of mouth. From the tales of the chupacabra from Mexico
The Nemean Lion and Heracles
to ancient Greek and Norse mythology the monster is not a new concept. An example from ancient Greece is a monster named the Nemean lion. Child of Typhon who is known to be the most deadly monster of Greek mythology and Echidna he was sent by his father to live on the outskirts of a city in a cave called Nema. Doing so he was also told to terrorize the city, born with an impenetrable pelt it was difficult to slay this beast knowing weapons were useless. The city was at its knees to this beast. Heracles was sent on this impossible mission known as Heracles’ twelve labors to slay the beast and bring back his pelt. After an extended period of time he was successful and was rewarded with the impenetrable pelt to wear during the rest of his missions.
An example of a monster from Norse Mythology is the Nidhogg. The Nidhogg is classified as a serpent, wyrm, or dragon. The story is told that the Nidhogg is underneath Yggdrasill or the world tree, gnawing at the roots. Yggdrasill’s translation is “Odin’s horse.” Odin being one
The Nidhogg on the roots of the World Tree
of the many Norse gods, this was a terrifying image to the Norse people, considering Yggdrasill is viewed as where "the horse of the highest god is bound". Losing the world tree to the Norse means Ragnarök, which means the great battle of gods and goddess, and an occurrence of natural disasters eventually leading to the end of the world.
Ancient mythology of Gods and dragons, have turned to modern mythology from aliens to oversized sea creatures. An example of this modern mythology is created in a movie called Jaws. Jaws is about an oversized shark that has a terrible thirst for blood
Jaws
and terrorizes a beach, where sharks are rarely seen. The monster is clear in this film, it’s a shark, however what is not clear is why is it so violent and where did it come from. When this movie was released in theater not only did this terrify people inside the theater but also outside. Making people think in the back of their mind that this isn’t impossible to happen and what if. Making Jaws a perfect candidate for the monster archetype.
Another representation of the monster archetype in movies is the movie Cloverfield. Cloverfield has an interesting take on the monster. Coming from a first person
Americas defense
perspective filmed with a hand held camera the movie shows New York after the monster only known as “Cloverfield” attacks. In this movie the monster is not so clear, it’s clear that it is there but not what it is and that is why I picked this as my second film. Showing a detailed perspective of what could possibly happen if this city was to be attacked by aliens.
This particular archetype has been around since the beginning. This is because there is always a why, or a what if, to unexplained stories and events. A masterpiece of the human imagination that runs wild into every direction leaving people wondering and sometimes even scared of the possibility something could happen out of the ordinary like a “monster”. Its only human nature.
The MonsteThe monster archetype is seen in almost every horror movie to date. Ranging from little green ghouls and goblins to flesh eating zombies, the fiction stories and scripts soon become a horror in the back of the audiences’ mind.
The monster dates back to when stories were only told by word of mouth. From the tales of the chupacabra from Mexico
The Nemean Lion and Heracles
to ancient Greek and Norse mythology the monster is not a new concept. An example from ancient Greece is a monster named the Nemean lion. Child of Typhon who is known to be the most deadly monster of Greek mythology and Echidna he was sent by his father to live on the outskirts of a city in a cave called Nema. Doing so he was also told to terrorize the city, born with an impenetrable pelt it was difficult to slay this beast knowing weapons were useless. The city was at its knees to this beast. Heracles was sent on this impossible mission known as Heracles’ twelve labors to slay the beast and bring back his pelt. After an extended period of time he was successful and was rewarded with the impenetrable pelt to wear during the rest of his missions.
An example of a monster from Norse Mythology is the Nidhogg. The Nidhogg is classified as a serpent, wyrm, or dragon. The story is told that the Nidhogg is underneath Yggdrasill or the world tree, gnawing at the roots. Yggdrasill’s translation is “Odin’s horse.” Odin being one
The Nidhogg on the roots of the World Tree
of the many Norse gods, this was a terrifying image to the Norse people, considering Yggdrasill is viewed as where "the horse of the highest god is bound". Losing the world tree to the Norse means Ragnarök, which means the great battle of gods and goddess, and an occurrence of natural disasters eventually leading to the end of the world.
Ancient mythology of Gods and dragons, have turned to modern mythology from aliens to oversized sea creatures. An example of this modern mythology is created in a movie called Jaws. Jaws is about an oversized shark that has a terrible thirst for blood
Jaws
and terrorizes a beach, where sharks are rarely seen. The monster is clear in this film, it’s a shark, however what is not clear is why is it so violent and where did it come from. When this movie was released in theater not only did this terrify people inside the theater but also outside. Making people think in the back of their mind that this isn’t impossible to happen and what if. Making Jaws a perfect candidate for the monster archetype.
Another representation of the monster archetype in movies is the movie Cloverfield. Cloverfield has an interesting take on the monster. Coming from a first person
Americas defense
perspective filmed with a hand held camera the movie shows New York after the monster only known as “Cloverfield” attacks. In this movie the monster is not so clear, it’s clear that it is there but not what it is and that is why I picked this as my second film. Showing a detailed perspective of what could possibly happen if this city was to be attacked by aliens.
This particular archetype has been around since the beginning. This is because there is always a why, or a what if, to unexplained stories and events. A masterpiece of the human imagination that runs wild into every direction leaving people wondering and sometimes even scared of the possibility something could happen out of the ordinary like a “monster”. Its only human nature.
The Monster work cited page